Jan Acuff,  RUSA #2163

Seattle, WA

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In the midst of all my athletic obsessions I am a mom and a nurse. I raised two adventurous girls. I worked in Trauma/ICU, Labor and Delivery, IV Therapy and Home Health for 42 years and now I’m happily retired.

Randonneuring keeps feeding the adventures but I’m drawn to this cycling lifestyle for the people and lifelong friendships made in my community, my country and around the world. I’m looking forward to meeting more Randonneurs, sharing their stories, and doing everything I can to keep them motivated and safely reaching their Randonneuring goals in these challenging times.

Questions for Jan? Contact her at jacuff55@hotmail.com.

Bill Bryant,  RUSA #7

Santa Cruz, CA

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• Member RUSA Founders, 1998
• RUSA Board member 1998-2006; President 2004-2005
• Member Rules Committee & Team Randonnée Committee
• Current R-12/P-12/Ultra R-12/Ultra-P-12/Charly Miller Awards Coordinator
• Membership Co-Coordinator 1998-2000
• Principle author RUSA Handbook; author of numerous articles in American Randonneur, principle author of many RUSA website pages 1998-2006, RUSA PBP Yearbook editing team 1999 & 2003
• Creator of RUSA’s R-12, P-12, Ultra-Randonneur, and Charly Miller awards
• US representative team at quadrennial Randonneurs Mondiaux meetings 1999-2007
• Early Board advocate of the permanents program adoption, early Board advocate of populaire distances for RUSA events and permanents
• Co-RBA for Santa Cruz Region with Lois Springsteen, 2004 to present
• Organizing Committee 2001 Gold Rush Randonnée (GRR), Control co-captain 2001 & 2003 GRR, Co-Organizer California Central Coast Randonnée (3CR) 2010, 2014, 2018; volunteer at numerous brevets, populaires, team randonnées, GRR, and Paris-Brest-Paris events, 1998 to present
• Paris-Brest-Paris finisher, 1983 & 1999
• Recipient, 2006 American Randonneur award

Questions for Bill? Contact him at bill.bryant23@gmail.com.

Dan Diehn,  RUSA #3812

Black River Falls, WI

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I live in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.  I regularly ride with the Minnesota Randonneurs, the Driftless Randonneurs, and Audax Kansas City. When not riding, I am a District Attorney and have served on numerous community Boards, including the Board of Directors of my local Community Hospital, the local Boys and Club, and a local food pantry. Through these experiences I have developed an ability to work with people with divergent viewpoints and to develop creative solutions to problems. I believe these skills would be beneficial to the Board.

As a Board Member, I would strive to make our sport accessible and inviting to all riders looking to share that sense of adventure and accomplishment. RUSA should embrace changes and technologies that make our events more appealing to new and continuing riders while preserving those traditions that define randonneuring. 

Questions for Dan? Contact him at dan1200k@yahoo.com.

Dan Driscoll,  RUSA #390

Arlington, TX

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As I’ve helped accomplish with our local club, I will work overtime to inspire a community feeling by encouraging and motivating members, and giving them reasons to stay engaged, especially women, new and aging members. I am also committed to providing a willing ear for members with ideas and concerns.

I’m such a fan of our non-competitive sport! We are all equal… young, old, male, female, fast or slow, 100 km or 1,200 km, and the life-time of adventure and friendships that come from inclusiveness and bringing riders together is one of my greatest passions. Everyone should have reasons to feel good about what they are doing, which helps build a community feeling, which helps RUSA’s long-term sustainability.

Not looking to re-invent the RUSA wheel. RUSA already thrives because of extraordinary efforts from many volunteers. I’m just offering to help pull into the wind a while if you’ll let me. If the RUSA membership would like my time, experience and passion to represent them, I would like to pay some of that back by serving on the Board. My focus will be on sustainability and inclusiveness.

Questions for Dan? Contact him at dandriscoll1@me.com.

Pete Dusel,  RUSA #25

Ontario, NY

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Over the years I've had the pleasure of meeting and riding with many of you. For those I haven’t, a brief introduction is in order. I've been randonneuring for many years, and for over 10 years, I've been an assistant RBA, RBA, route designer and perm owner.
This past year, my first as a board member, serving as RBA-Liaison, the voice of the RBAs on the RUSA board, has certainly been far more than any of us could have expected!
Although brevet riding has been very low this year, the board has been incredibly busy!
Some examples:

• Brevet shutdown due to the Pandemic. A very difficult issue not all agreed with.
• Perms off, then on with a new program due to liability insurance requirements.
• New insurance company, which is willing to cover the new perms program, and have already renewed us for next year.
• Instituting the new perms program and rolling it out.
• COVID, learning to deal with it.
• Brevets coming back on line.

As a current board member I share responsibility for all our actions. Credit is shared, I enjoy serving our membership and being part of that team.
Hoping to continue serving you,
Pete

Questions for Pete? Contact him at pdusel@sprintmail.com.

Joel Lawrence,  RUSA #692

Austin, TX

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I have been randonneuring for over 3 decades having biked near and far with many of you. The majority of my experience has been in North Carolina where I helped organize rides with my father for many years. Very recently I relocated to the Austin area and look forward to normal riding once the pandemic winds down.  Over the years I have seen numerous changes in our sport and phenomenal growth in our club membership.  RUSA is a model organization that has created a national community of randonneurs sustained by its volunteers.  If elected to the board I will bring my experience and enthusiasm with the hope of continuing in this tradition.

Questions for Joel? Contact him at jalawrence1261@gmail.com.

Andrew Mead,  RUSA #3981

Lancaster, PA

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I joined RUSA in 2007 to scratch an itch for long distance cycling. A couple years later the R12 program was announced and my local RBA took the step of offering monthly brevets year-round. I started developing routes and organizing brevets to help. This soon expanded to behind-the-scenes roles in the SR series, Fleche and the Endless Mountains Grand Randonnee. In 2016 I began the transition into the RBA role for the Eastern Pennsylvania region and continue in that role today. As a region we have offered at least one brevet each month, a spring Super Randonneur series, and a Fleche for over a decade. The full schedules have required continuous improvement in brevet administration and creation of a large catalog of brevet routes. Our goal is always to offer a full schedule of brevets that are fun to ride. This drive for continual improvement and the ability to work with a team to achieve that goal is what I have to offer. If elected, I will bring this same passion for our sport that I've demonstrated at the personal and regional level to the RUSA board.

Questions for Andrew? Contact him at admead@gmail.com.

John Peltier,  RUSA #7827

Farmington, NY

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As a RUSA board member I would like to see the organization engaged in questions and solutions in a couple key areas.  First, what are some effective ways of promoting Randonneuring especially in smaller markets like ours here in Western New York?  Are we making appropriate and effective use of media methods that are useful both in recruiting and then in sustaining interest?  Second, what are we doing to encourage development of future leaders especially at the local level.  Does that encouragement make women and diverse members feel empowered and welcome to participate and bring new ideas.

Our sport has so much to offer in many dimensions: promotion of healthy habits and lifestyles; social interaction and opportunities for friendship; opportunities for all members to contribute and lead.  I am looking forward to help us all make the best of it.

Questions for John?  Contact him at johnppeltier@gmail.com.

Dawn Piech,  RUSA #10146

Lombard, IL

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I am honored for being nominated to serve on the RUSA Board of Directors.  I have a passion for cycling and adventure and became a member in November 2014, a current member of Driftless Randonneurs.  I was a Super Randonneur six times and have ridden in many regions where I met members, volunteers and RBA’s.  I completed two 1,200k rides including Paris-Brest-Paris in 2015 during my first year of randonneuring and the inaugural Coulee Challenge in 2018.  

I authored five articles for American Randonneur magazine; developed six permanents/populaires; served on the Board of Directors for the Great Lakes Randonneurs and volunteered for a 1,000K.  In 2016, I organized a “Bring a Friend to a 200K Brevet Day”with seven new riders.  Moreover, I founded the “International Women’s Day Together We Ride” 100K populaire in 2019, with representation from ten RUSA regions and numerous countries throughout the world.  As a personal challenge, I completed a Super Randonneur Series on my Surly fat bike in 2019.

If elected, I will:
1.    Represent our sport in the US and globally  
2.    Encourage and empower women in randonneuring
3.    Explore opportunities for a Do It Yourself 50K to add to the current ride program
4.    Engage new members by developing an onboarding mentoring program 
5.    Create and implement a RUSA membership survey 

I have eight years of professional and non-profit board experience (APTA) and welcome the opportunity to build upon our foundation.  Randonneurs are in it for the ride, not the race.

Questions for Dawn? Contact her at dmpiech21@gmail.com.

Michele Brougher,  RUSA #5558

St Louis Park, MN

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Great accomplishments are sometimes quiet. I’m now the web master for 10 different regions; one that both integrates with RUSA and helps us easily bring people to the starting line. Through technology, we can reach out to people.

I was the first to put together and share a COVID plan. Despite Chicago being a hotspot, GLR was able to communicate well from the start. We doubled the size of our club while avoiding any COVID issues. Sharing our experiences has hopefully helped others make their own decisions.

The RBA Liaison is about facilitating communication. Leaders are effective because they explain decisions and help those that disagree get behind them; they lift us up. That’s what I intend to do. We need communication beyond an impersonal email list. Spaces where we can share our experiences and concerns without feeling attacked. Today, there are many options like Zoom, chat channels, and others that could help the silent find a better way to speak.

As RBA Liaison, I will help foster a circle of dialog both between RBAs and with the board; we can share our regions and our strengths with each other and be better for it. Camaraderie starts with us.

I’m running because my friends asked me to. We need each other to get though the good times and bad - just like on on a brevet.

Rob Hawks,  RUSA #2515

Richmond, CA

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We all know that the RBA-L position is a vital one for RBAs. It's the primary link between the RUSA regions and the RUSA board. The selection process seldom gets the attention of half of the electorate, only rising above that mark when RBA's have more than one candidate to consider for the position. Since the 2016 election for the 2017 term voter participation has slid below 50% and  last year was barely 20%. I am running for this position to hopefully encourage more participation by RBAs, starting with voting for who represents us on the RUSA Board. 

2020 has not been a normal year in any regard, with a considerable amount of turnover among RBAs with some regions going dark. I took over the CA: San Francisco region in 2008 when it had 10% of the membership it has today so I've been RBA for both a small region with an informal host club and now a very large region. Our host club is now incorporated as well. 

Each year I've worked with the RBAs of regions barely more than an hour's drive from us to offer a rich ride calendar for RUSA members in Northern California. I have served on the RUSA board in the past and have kept up with contributing to RUSA on a national level by serving on both the Brevet Coordination and Membership committees. Working on those committees has given me even more insight on managing a RUSA region.

There is a vast amount of talent among our RBAs. I want to learn from other RBAs and share what I learn with our RBA community.

Questions for Rob? Contact him at rob.hawks@gmail.com.